BEAUTY AND ELEGANCE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22320, 18 January 1936, Page 20

BEAUTY AND ELEGANCE

THE RENAISSANCE PERIOD HOSTESS AND DINNER FROCKS BY BAUDAHA In tho true Florentine tradition is the black crepe dinner dress shown in my sketch. Liko the Renaissance artist of old, the designer has moulded and draped its lovely lines into something that is timeless in its beauty. He seems to sculpt tho very figure. Tho dropped shoulder-line and long tight sleeves are tho essence of elegance. The wearer, who is unquestionably a woman of discrimination, places a brightly-coloured spray of feather flowers on the very top of her head. Coins round the high neckline and a chain and coin belt round the waist give distinction to the other frock sketched. Of copper brown crepe with coins of gold it has long sleeves fitted at tho wrist and a slim skirt cut on the cross. At the back a looped panel of the material hangs to tho length of the hem.

In the overseas collections groat interest is displayed in loose back drapery. Floating winged panels which hang from the shoulders to the ground decorate the back of Lelong's plum coloured chiffon evening frock. Another dinner frock of didl rod satin has a full back bodice with folds concentrated toward the centre and a loose folded panel of the material hanging to the ground at the back. This frock, which is longsleeved, has a sash belt oi : gold lame fastened by a jewel-encrusted buckle in the centre back. Another longsleeved Florentine dinner frock is made of patterned lame and is laced up one side with silver cord. Tho neckline is low and rounded and has a flattened ruche of the material, which gives it importance. Besides tlieso dinner dresses tho new collections show many dinner suits. Most of these are as yet too advanced for wear in the Antipodes, but several of them- are suitable for adaption to our seasons. Nearly all of them hate short bolero jackets and long tightish skirts which show fullness at tho back below tho knees. One enchanting model is made of a sheer black linen and very tailored and straightforward with wide revers faced with the same multi-coloured striped linen that makes tho skirt. This suit should provide inspiration for many others. Bronze linen with a corn yellow blouse or moss green linen worn with rose pink are colour combinations which are both striking and original. These dinner suits are among the first to display the new short-in-the-front, long-at-the-back movement. A black crepe suit with an Eton jacket and a white waistcoat has a straight cut skirt which flares away at the hemline from a V-shaped opening which reaches well above tne ankle. Another model in

dove-grey has a skirt which buttons with twelve covered buttons in; front, and is flared in front, where it is a good nine inches than at the back. An almost military jacket also buttontrimmed and with coils of scarlet braid round the collar and pocket flaps is worn over a scarlet silk blouse. The dotted Swiss-Spanish stylo frocks' of which I have written in an earlier article are now hailed as the forerunners to a Spanish trend. But now it is the Spanish caballero and not his romantic senorita, who lends dash to the modern woman's wardrobe. Dinner suits with bolero jackets and wide mannish shoulders have skirts which are jerked up in front-drapery like the one described in the preceding paragraph. A deep red silk suit has everything from a braided bolero jacket and a skirt with braid running down a sidecentre seam to a still deeper red cummerbund which swathes the high waistline. A pleated white silk shirt with narrow turn-down collar is finished by a red toreador tie. For the woman who looks her best in black, a dinner suit of black silk moire with straight-cut skirt and jacket, which is severely nipped in at the waist and worn over a white ribbed silk halter vest is the very essence of sophisticated simplicity. Dinner dresses and dinner suits are, of course, as a rule, interchangeable, but the former aro particularly suited to the hostess, whilst the latter are excellent for dining out. Restaurant dinners in particular call for a dinner suit. The hats and head ornaments which are designed to go with these garments are particularly delectable. That becoming fashion of pulling the hair to the top of the head and then letting it loose in fluffy curls has again become important and many designers make their hats especially to complement it. In an earlier article I have described the Juliet caps, chenille snoods and flower clusters which decorate so many heads and seem so essentially right- with the rather "arty" fashions of the moment. With the dinner suits I have been describing a more severe, yet equally fetching, typo of headgear is necessary. One-sided hats which are peaked high in front and are worn with chenille dotted veils fit well into the Spanish Bcene.